We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser. The TripAdvisor website may not display properly. We support the following browsers:
Windows:Internet Explorer,
Mozilla Firefox,
Google Chrome.
Mac:Safari.

A couple months ago I booked a surprise trip for my mom, my gf, and myself...It is my mom's 70th birthday present and my gf's birthday is that same week also. I have not told either of them...contacted my gf's boss to schedule her time off, etc...I initially wasn't going to tell them until the day before we left or maybe even the morning of and just say "pack your bags we are going on a 4 day trip"...but that is getting difficult because they are talking about other plans for their birthdays and I want them to make sure they have money saved, etc...so, rather than it be a big surprise the day we go, I was wondering if anyone here has some fun, interesting ideas about how to tell them. It can be telling them together or telling them each in a different way.

Maybe 10 years ago I wanted to surprise my wife on Christmas with the gift of a trip to New Orleans (in March). So I did the same things you did; got the time off from her job, arranged our schedules to free the time, booked a B&B and flights.

On Christmas I gave her a package with a couple of guide books for NO, and stuck the B&B brochure and plane tickets in one of the books. It worked for us. She got her surprise, but also had time to plan.

My DH did the exact same thing for my 40th BD. He had all intentions of waiting to tell me the day before we left, but knowing the anal retentive person I am, that was not going to work. He told me 1 week before we were leaving when I came home from my part time job after a very bad night waitressing. He handed me a box with a pamplet from the new MGM Grand, so that tells you how long ago it was, with confirmations for flights and the first thing out of my mouth was, I can't get off of work. No problem, he had already called my boss at my full time job and arranged this. Next thing was I could not get off my part time job, no problem, all taken care of.

All I needed to do was pack and get excited!!!! It truly was the sweetest thing my DH has ever done and he has done alot. It was a time I will never forget so keep it a secret as long as you can but give them some time to plan.

Don't know if this will help, but here is what I did to surprise my wife for our anniversary in 2010:

Our anniversary is on Aug. 6th, but I booked our trip for the end of August. We were in dire need of a new suitcase, so we had went shopping for one earlier in the year just to see what we would like. During the early summer, I saw the suitcase we liked go on sale for 50% off, so I bought it and stashed it away where my wife wouldn't find it. On our actual anniversary, I gave her a card which explained the details of our trip. As she was reading it, I wheeled in the suitcase so that when she looked up from reading the card she would see it. Worked like a charm!

This not only was a suprise for her, but it also gave her about 3 weeks to plan and pack for herself.

I am currently working on a similar surprise for this year's anniversary, only this time we will actually be in Vegas for our anniversary. Not sure how I am going to spring the surpise this time around yet.

Go to the dollar store, and get a bunch of "vegas" related stuff, like, white tiger, pyramid, some kind of kids faux food, something Italy related, something sparkly, tylenol, .... you get the idea, wrap them up in tissue paper, and put them in a big gift bag, have them pick one thing out at a time, until they guess where they are going.

Your intentions are sweet, and it sounds like you've done all the preparations needed for this trip, but you need to act on one of these above ideas soon because telling someone ON THE DAY YOU LEAVE isn't sweet.

Oh sure that is definitely more exotic sounding, but it's not at all practical for them. And you want them to save money up for it, too?

If I was in their shoes, having it announced last minute like that... with no time to put thought into packing... honestly, I prob wouldn't even go. You don't want your trip to backfire like that, do you?

Tell them ASAP, use one of the suggestions, or

tell them about the trip, just not where you'll all be going, that way some of the intrigue is still there.

For my surprise announcement to my girlfriend I simply used a pad of paper and let her read it for herself; one page at a time. There were about 20 pages total but I will spare you some of the boring pages that were meant to tease her. The main pages read

Happy anniversary babe

I want to take you somewhere special

Pack your bags

We are going to:

MCDONALDS

Seriously though; We're off to

Vegas

I could see the anticipation building in her face at every turn off the page. It was fairly simple but effective in my opinion

* TripAdvisor LLC is not a booking agent and does not charge any service fees to users of our site... (more)

We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser. The TripAdvisor website may not display properly. We support the following browsers:
Windows:Internet Explorer,
Mozilla Firefox,
Google Chrome.
Mac:Safari.

TripAdvisor LLC is not responsible for content on external web sites. Taxes, fees not included for deals content.

TripAdvisor uses cookies to improve your site experience. Learn more or change your settings. By continuing, you consent to our cookies.